No E-ticket for JPL

Loss of open house closes off 'Disneyland experience' for space geeks.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's annual open house allows space geeks and budding young scientists a rare peek inside the missions behind the La Cañada Flintridge facility.

But the popular event, scheduled for June 8 and 9, has been canceled because of federal spending cuts. It typically attracts crowds of more than 15,000 each day.

"Everyone here is just horribly disappointed," said JPL spokeswoman Veronica McGregor. "This is an event we look forward to each year and we know the public really looks forward to attending it."

Blaine Baggett, JPL's director of communications and education, said in an email that canceling the event was a difficult decision.

"Open House feels like the best of our community when people from all walks of life, all ages, different cultures, you name it, they all come out because they are intellectually curious and excited about the great adventures the lab undertakes," he said.

Baggett, a La Cañada resident, described the event as a Disneyland experience for the science and engineering world that inspires not only the community, but also the employees.

Advertisement

"Open House is the public's affirmation of the lab's work and its purpose," he said.

Because of the cancellation, the facility will save roughly $400,000. The figure is a comparatively slim sum for an agency that deals with budgets into the billions, but the cancellation comes as NASA faces pressure to cut costs where it can amid the across-the-board federal spending reductions known as sequestration.

McGregor said the budget to put on the open house includes security, portable toilets, presentations and other items brought to the La Cañada Flintridge campus.

It also covers pay for hourly employees who educate the public on the space agency's missions.

About two-thirds of the scientists and engineers who work during open house are hourly employees, McGregor said.

Salaried employees volunteer their time, she added.

Between 700 and 1,000 employees work the event, said McGregor, and typically because they enjoy it. "No one is told they have to work," she said.

All NASA centers are currently reviewing public outreach efforts to deal with the budget pressures of sequestration. And once the "budget dust settles" later this year, McGregor has said JPL may still bring back the open house.